UKRI Translation: MRC Impact Acceleration Awards (Grant)

Apply to the MRC Impact Acceleration Award for single-step support in developing a new or repurposed medicine, medical device, diagnostic, or other medical product. Projects must target a high-risk development step backed by prior funding, generating critical data to de-risk onward progression or determine failure. The Impact Acceleration Award strategically bridges the smaller Impact Acceleration Account (IAA) and the larger Proof of Concept funding opportunity. You must be based at a Medical Research Council (MRC) eligible research organisation. This funding opportunity was formerly known as ‘Gap Fund: single-step support for medical product development’. Scope You can apply for academically led translational projects that aim to undertake a single-step package of development work that will bridge the gap between the inception of a new idea and substantive funding through schemes such as the MRC Proof of concept funding opportunity (formerly Developmental Pathway Funding Scheme, DPFS).The Impact Acceleration Award supports our strategic priorities including: • precision prevention to reduce disease risk in targeted populations • early and accurate diagnosis to improve speed and accuracy of disease detection • advanced treatments offering novel therapeutic approaches • improve outcome monitoring of patients receiving treatment • better management of diseases and conditions through innovative technologies All human diseases and medical interventions are eligible for support, both in the context of UK healthcare and addressing global health issues.You should note the Impact Acceleration Award will only support single-step projects, focusing on one goal rather than multiple steps. We recommend requesting only the funding needed for this specific goal, unless applying for the maximum amount is scientifically justified.Your project should have already explored a new concept and generated some data in support of the approach. Your application should clearly articulate: • the core concept of the project • the critical one-step gap that needs to be addressed • an explanation of how the proposed plan will address this critical gap • the challenges and issues involved in onward development This fund will provide small scale funding to generate critical data needed prior to seeking more substantive funding. A non-exhaustive list of examples of the types of projects that could be supported include: • high-risk elements of therapeutic discovery, quantification and validation • high-risk stages of prototype development • early prototype testing • initial biomarker validation • vector identification or optimisation • hit expansion medicinal chemistry In exceptional circumstances, you can submit follow on applications where you can justify the need for continued support. However, in most cases a positive outcome of the proposed work should be sufficient to allow submission of a longer and larger application, potentially to the MRC Proof of Concept funding opportunity.For more information on the background of this funding opportunity, go to the ‘Additional information’ section.Applications from research organisations who are not recipients of an Impact Acceleration Account may use this funding opportunity to apply for more preliminary studies. The scale and scope of the request should reflect a project more in line with earlier stages of development.You should highlight within the application that you are applying for an IAA-like project and that your research organisation does not provide this opportunity. Activities we support You can apply for funding for work on novel: • new small molecule medicines • vaccines for infectious or non-infectious disease • biologics (antibodies, peptides, proteins) • advanced therapeutics (for example, gene therapy, cell therapy, RNA therapy, nucleic acid therapy and T-cell therapy) • complex medicines for example PROTACS, molecular glues and antibody-drug conjugates • regenerative medicine approaches • repurposing clinical studies or using existing therapies for new indications • medical devices • digital healthcare and app development • diagnostics (including biomarker validation but excluding biomarker identification) • medical imaging technology • surgical techniques or tools • behavioural and psychological interventions • radiotherapy and radiation protocols We note that many applications in each of these categories may include artificial intelligence (AI) methodologies. A significant use of AI in an Impact Acceleration Award application refers to the integration of AI as a core enabling technology that fundamentally shapes the application’s functionality, development, and value proposition. This means that AI is not merely an add-on feature but a major technique that drives the application’s capabilities, automation, decision-making, or user experience.This application form includes a question section dedicated to such applications and more guidance on this can be found below depend

This opportunity is open to organisations with standard eligibility. Check if your organisation is eligible . Who is eligible to apply To be eligible to apply for this funding opportunity you must: • show that you will direct the project and be actively engaged in the work • be looking to generate critical preliminary data to build confidence in the development strategy for a new medicine, repurposed medicine, medical device, diagnostic test, or other medical intervention development For applicants who do not have a contract of employment for the duration of the proposed project, by submitting an application the research organisation is confirming, if it is successful: • contracts will be extended beyond the end date of the project • all necessary support for the project and the applicants will be provided, including mentorship and career development for early career researchers Demand management You can only submit one application as project lead to this funding opportunity. Resubmissions We will not accept uninvited resubmission of applications that were submitted after 1 April 2026 to MRC, the rest of UK Research and Innovation (UKRI) or any other funder. An uninvited resubmission is an application that was previously unsuccessful and has been submitted again without being invited by MRC. This includes applications that are unchanged, minimally revised, or substantially the same as the original submission. Uninvited resubmissions will be rejected. You should contact us if you are unsure whether your application is a resubmission. Find contacts in the ‘contact details’ section Who is not eligible to apply You are not eligible to apply for this funding opportunity as a project lead if you are based at an international research organisation. This does not include the MRC Unit The Gambia at the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine (LSHTM) or MRC/UVRI (Uganda Virus Research Institute) and LSHTM Uganda Research Unit. If you are employed by these organisations you cannot apply as project lead or project co-lead, but can participate as project partners on an application led by an eligible UK organisation: • businesses • charity and third sector organisations However, charities and third sector organisations that are approved UKRI Independent Research Organisations are eligible to apply as project lead or project co-lead. International researchers As MRC is a lead funder for this funding opportunity, international researchers can apply as ‘project co-lead (international)’. You should include all other international collaborators (or UK partners not based at approved organisations) as project partners. Project co-leads (international) make a major intellectual contribution to the design or conduct of the project. Their contribution and added value to the research collaboration should be clearly explained and justified in the application, see ‘Applicant and team capability to deliver’. Read the UKRI project co-lead (international) eligibility for more details. Please contact us if you are uncertain about eligibility. Equality, diversity and inclusion We are committed to achieving equality of opportunity for all funding applicants. We encourage applications from a diverse range of researchers. We support people to work in a way that suits their personal circumstances. This includes: • career breaks • support for people with caring responsibilities • flexible working • alternative working patterns UKRI can offer disability and accessibility support for UKRI applicants and grant holders during the application and assessment process.

Click https://funding-service.ukri.org/OPP1251/apply/1280 in the UKRI Funding Service to apply.We are running this funding opportunity on the new UK Research and Innovation (UKRI) Funding Service so please ensure that your organisation is registered. You cannot apply on the Joint Electronic Submissions (Je-S) system.The project lead is responsible for completing the application process on the Funding Service, but we expect all team members and project partners to contribute to the application.Only the lead research organisation can submit an application to UKRI.If the lead research organisation is an NHS organisation, check it is available in the Funding Service. You are encouraged to check this early as there may be additional steps for the organisation to be set up before you can apply. To apply Select ‘Start application’ near the beginning of this Funding finder page. • Confirm you are the project lead. • Sign in or create a Funding Service account. To create an account, select your organisation, verify your email address, and set a password. • Answer questions directly in the text boxes. You can save your answers and come back to complete them or work offline and return to copy and paste your answers. If we need you to upload a document, follow the upload instructions in the Funding Service. All questions and assessment criteria are listed in the How to apply section on this Funding finder page. • Allow enough time to check your application in ‘read-only’ view before sending to your research office. • Send the completed application to your research office for checking. They will return it to you if it needs editing. • Your research office will submit the completed and checked application to UKRI. Please be aware that research office and finance teams undertake checks on hosting arrangements and financial eligibility. The ultimate responsibility for ensuring compliance with all opportunity requirements lies with the applicant.Where indicated, you can also demonstrate elements of your responses in visual form if relevant.When including images, you must: • provide a descriptive caption or legend for each image immediately underneath it in the text box (this must be outside the image and counts towards your word limit) • insert each new image on a new line • use files smaller than 5MB and in JPEG, JPG, JPE, JFI, JIF, JFIF, PNG, GIF, BMP or WEBP format Images should only be used to convey important visual information that cannot easily be put into words. The following are not permitted, and your application will be rejected if you include: • sentences or paragraphs of text • tables • excessive quantities of images A few words are permitted where the image would lack clarity without the contextual words, such as a diagram, where text labels are required for an axis or graph column.For more guidance on the Funding Service, see: • how applicants use the Funding Service • how research offices use the Funding Service • how reviewers use the Funding Ser